This invention relates to dancing taps but more particularly to a dancing tap that mounts external to any "off the shelf" shoe and contains three elements that are self affixed.
Taps are ordinarily made in the form of small plates and are attached to the soles and/or heels of shoes worn by persons engaged in dancing, particularly in tap dancing. The purpose of taps is to produce a distinct sound, the sound being produced by the impact of the tap against the dance floor. The sound produced by the taps accentuates the rhythm of the dance and adds materially to the enjoyment of persons watching the dance. This rhythmic sound of the tap dancing is particularly important to persons who do not see the dancer but who only listen to the dance, that is, to the rhythmic taps.
It was generally recognized that the quality of the tap produced by the impact against the floor may vary and that one particular quality of the sound may be more attractive than another.
The known dancing taps of this type, are usually plate-like in form and are provided with a sound amplifying chamber and have no sound creating elements or only weak ones in the chamber, and furthermore have the sound outlet positioned under the bottom of the shoe, whereby the outlet becomes restricted by the overhanging shoe bottom. Thus, the sound emitted from the chamber is obliged to pass between the sole or the bottom of the shoe and the floor, which tends to muffle and deaden the metallic sound created in the chamber.
In the art there are various shoe taps found. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,809,107, 2,011,435 to Capezio and U.S. Pat. No. 1,780,230 to Haney there is taught the use of a one piece tap attached externally to the shoe and making use of different contours to vary the tapping sound. In the more recent state of the art there are provided multiple element taps also attached to the exterior of the shoe and containing movable parts to further increase the tapping sound. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 1,868,765 to Reynolds teaches a multi-element tap that makes use of ball bearings to transfer activating force, but provides no means for lubricating the ball bearings to insure longevity. U.S. Pat. No. 2,168,303 to Sothen also teaches a multi-element tap that makes use of a spinning means to facilitate easy and graceful turning and spinning of the dancer in either direction. With this arrangement numerous other elements are necessary to support and maintain its operation. This multitude of parts raises the chances of malfunction and/or deterioration of operation; this reduces its practicality. Other variations of taps require special shoes. U.S. Pat. No. 1,997,221 to Landi teaches a tap mechanism that is recessed into the sole of the shoe, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,668,505 to Haney teaches a tap mechanism that is recessed into the heel of the shoe.